Change-speed gearing.



C. C. EARNIST.

CHANGE SPEED GEARING.

APPLICATION rum) NOV. 29, 1912.

Patented Mar. 24, 1914.

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CHANGE SPEED GEARING.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1912.

Patented Mar. 24, 191i 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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CYRUS C. EARNIST, OF RIGEVILLE, IOWA.

CHANGE-SPEED GEARING.

Application filed November 29, 1912.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 24,1914.

Serial No. 734,113.

To all echo-m it 1/2 (4 2 concern Be it known that I, CYRUS C. EARNIS'T, a citizen of the United States, residing at- Riceville, in the county of Mitchell and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Change-Speed Gearing; and I do hereby declare the fol lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to transmission mechanisms, and it more particularly relates to change-speed gearing.

An object of the invention is to provide a gear mechanism of this character, whereby the speed of an automobile may be changed from low speed to medium and from medium to high, by a. simple and successive operation of a single lever.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanism of this character whereby the speed may be changed and whereby the driving mechanism may be thrown out of gear, by the operation of a single lever.

Another object of the invention is to provide for automatically returning certain elements of the gearing from operative position into normal or inoperative position.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for forcing certain elements of the mechanism from operative into inoperative position, in the event that they fail to return automatically.

Other objects and advantages may be recited hereinafter and in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which supplement the following specification, Figure 1 illustrates a plan view of my improved change-speed gearing, together with fragmental portions of the shafts on which it is applied. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2 -2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-43 of Fig. 1, and, Fig. 1 is a. fragmental view similar to Fig. 3, the parts being indicated in a different position.

Referring to these drawings, in which similar reference characters correspond with similar parts throughout the several views, the main driver or engine shaft is designated by numeral 9 while a secondary shaft is designated by the numeral and has driver and 12, loosely mounted thereon and it will be seen that the shaft 9 is ournaled within an end of the shaft 9*, as indicated in dotted hnes at 9. Centrally apertured blocks 13 are keyed on the shaft 9, and the wheels 11 and 12 are held against axial movement by means of these blocks 13. The wheels 10, 11 and 12 are each provided with a ratchet member 14, which may be formed integrally with the respective wheels, and a pair of pa-wls or dogs 15 are fitted at 16 to each of the blocks 13. Each pawl consists of two arms extending in opposite directions, one of said arms having a clutch-engaging end 17 and the other arm having a convexed lateral extension 18. These pawls may be connected with any suitable form of spring, and in any suitable way, but as illustrated, each pawl is provided with a laterally extending arm 19 having a retract-ile spring 20 secured to its free end, the other end of the spring being secured to a screw 21 which is secured to the block.

Surrounding each block 13 is a ring 22, each ring having diametrically opposed arms 28 and 24, the latter being bifurcated and receiving the shaft 5 between its parallel fur-cations Each arm 23 has its free end apertured for the reception of a rod to which it is secured. As illustrated, there are three of the rings 22, and a shifter rod connected with each of the rings, said rods being numbored 26, 27 and 28, respectively. The arm 23 is fixedly secured to the rod 28, the shorter arm 23 of another of the rings is secured to the rod 27, while the third ring 22 has a shorter arm 23* which is fixedly secured to the rod 26. Each of the rings forms a track for a pair of the pawls 15 to travel upon, the convexed portion 18 of each pawl being held in contact with the contiguous ring, by means of the spring 20, and it will be seen that, by shifting the rods 26, 27 and 28 longitudinally, the rings 22 will be carried therewith, thereby allowing the springs 20 to move the pawls 15; else, moving said pawls against the action of the springs 20.

I provide for shifting the rods longitudinally, by means of the rock shaft 29, the usual clutch-operating pedal 30 and an operating lever 31, the lever being fixed on the against the shoulders 33.

shaft 29, so that when the pedal 30 is pushed forward and downward, the shaft 29 is rocked thereby. Secured on the shaft 29 is a pair of collars 32, each collar being provided with a shoulder 33. Between the collars 32 is mounted a pair of lever arms 34, each having a shoulder 35, adapted to abut Pivoted to the lever arms 34, at 36, is a U-shaped pusher member comprising a pair of parallel side bars 37 a and a pusher bar 38. On each of the shifter rods is secured or formed a cam lug 39, 40, and 41, respectively, said cam lugs being upwardly and forwardly inclined, and having vertical forward surfaces or shoulders against which the bar 38 may impinge. The shifter rods 26 and 27 are each provided with a laterally extending pin or stud 42 while each of the shifter rods is provided with an upstanding stud 43.

On an axle or pivot 44 are loosely mounted three similar detents or keepers 45, each of said keepers having its free end apertured so as to provide a shoulder 46, the free end of each keeper 45 being provided wit-h a cam surface 47 on its under side, adjacent to the shoulder 46. These keepers are rearwardly and downwardly inclined from their pivotal connections, and are held by gravity in their respective normal positions, against the shifter rods. Each keeper 45 is also provided with a stop lug 48, against which the pins 43 are held, normally, by means of retract-ile springs 49, which may be secured to any portion of the automobile, as indicated at 50. Parallel with the shifter rods, and adjacent thereto, is mounted the returning member or draw rod 51, comprising a front portion having its top surface on substantially the same level as the top surfaces of the shifter rods, and rear portion 52 on a higher level, a cam surface 53 connecting the first said portion with the second said portion. The draw rod extends under the pusher bar 38, and is adapted to raise the latter by means of the cam surface 53, when the draw rod is drawn forward. As a means for actuat ing the draw rod, I provide a bell crank 54, pivoted to any proper support at 55, and to the draw rod at 56. A vertical plunger 57 is pivoted to the bell crank at 58, so that when the foot of the operator presses down upon the plunger 57, the bell crank is actuated for drawing the draw rod forward, so that the cam 53 impinges against the under side of the bar 38 and lifts the latter above the level of the lugs 39, 40 and 41. The draw rod 51 is provided with a laterally extending arm or pin 59, extending across the shifter rods, and in close proximity therewith, so that when the shifter rod is drawn forward, this pin 59 impinges against the cam surfaces 47 and raises the rear ends of the keepers 45, so that when the pins 43 are held against the shoulders pusher bar 38, lever arm and shaft 29,

thereby moving the left-hand ring 22 into the dotted line position, whereby the lefthand pawl 15 will be freed and allowed to swing into position for engagement with the left-hand ratchet 14. Now it should be understood that the shaft 5 and its adjuncts are rotating, and that the wheels 10, 11 and 12 are rotating with their respective ratchet wheels, around the shaft 9 which is not rotating. However, when the left-hand pawls move into engagement with the left-hand ratchet, the shaft 9 will begin to rotate at low speed, making approximately one revolution to every two revolutions of the shaft 5. During the operation ofthrowing the machine into low speed, the rod 26, as stated, was moved by means of the bar 38 pushing against the lug 39, and it will be seen that said lug was moved into its dotted line position, and in thus moving the lug 39 and rod 26, the pin 42 has impinged against the lug 40 and moved it into its dotted line position, to the rear of the bar 38, thereby shifting the middle ring 22 into its second or middle position, as indicated in dotted lines, by the numeral 25 Now it will be seen that, the lug 40* being to the rear of the bar 38, it will be rearward of said bar when the latter is moved, by again pressing the pedal 30; so that the shifter rod 27 and middle ring 22, are now moved to their third position, thereby allowing the middle pawls 15 to engage with the middle ratchet member, and thereby causing the shaft 9 to rotate at a higher rate of speed, owing to the higher ratio of the gears 7 and 11 than that of the gears 8 and 12. Now, since the shaft 9 and gear 11 are making more revolutions, for a given unit of time than the gear wheel 12 is making, the left-hand pawls ride over the teeth of the left-hand ratchet member 14. In the operation of moving the middle ring 22 into its third position, the right-hand ring has been moved into its second position, by means of the pin 42 of the rod 27, which moved against the lug 41 when the rod 27 moved into its second position, and carried the lug 41 under and rearward of the bar 38, when the rod 27 moved into its third position; so that the lug 41 now being in its second position may be moved into its third position by again pushing the pedal '30 and causing the bar 38 to force the lug 41, rod 28 and right-hand ring 22 into their respective third positions,

so that now the right-hand pawl 15 moves into engagement with the right-hand ratchet member ll, and the machine is now geared for high speed or direct speed, so that the shafts 9 and 9 are revolving together. Now, it will be seen that the lug 39 is normally at the rear of the bar 38, while the lugs etO and all are normally in front of said bar 38, and when said lugs 40 and 41 are in their second position, at the rear of the bar 38, they are held therein by means of said bar; but when said lugs 40 and 41 are moved to their respective third positions, they are held therein by means of the pins 4-3 and shoulders 46. Now, assuming that the machine is in its high speed position, and it is desired to stop the machine, or throw it out of gear, without stopping the engine; this may be done by pressing the plunger 57, so that the bar 38 may be raised, as described, whereupon, the shifter rods and rings will be returned to their neutral positions, as shown in Fig. 1, by means of the springs e9, auxiliated by the arm 59, if necessary, in the manner described.

In order that the movement of the shifter rods may be regulated without regard to the distance through which the clutch pedal 30 moves, the collars 32 may be adjusted upon the shaft 29, by means of set screws 32, so that when the pedal 30 is pushed down to its lowermost position, the shoulders 33 and 35 may be brought into contact, and the sleeves secured in this position, so that when the pedal 30 has been released and has swung to its uppermost position, there may be a recess between said shoulders 33 and 35. Any suitable stop element 60 may be provided for limiting the forward movement of the pusher member 37 and the rearward movement of the draw rod 51, and any suitable spring elements 62 and 63 may be employed for returning the members 31 and 3t to their normal positions, as indicated in Fig. 3. IVhen desired to run in other than high speed, since the change of speeds as shown being progressive, this may be accomplished as follows: Now suppose the clutch had been operated twice, thereby changing first from neutral to low, then from low to intermediate, and it is now desired to continue in intermediate and still be able to use the main clutch freely in throwing power on and off. This may be easily accomplished by any proper means of hooking up the pusher bar 38 so that it would not act upon the lugs 39l0 and 41.

It will be seen that I have provided a mechanism of this character, which is fully capable of attaining the foregoing objects, and in a thoroughly practical and etlicient manner.

I do not limit my invention to the exact details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as herewith illustrated and described, but my invention may only be limited by a reasonable interpretation of the claims.

I claim.

1. In a change-speed gearing, a driver shaft, a. driver gear fixed thereon, a driven shaft, a plurality of gear wheels loosely mounted on the driven shaft and having ra-tchets formed thereon, a secondary shaft, a plurality of gear wheels fixed on the secondary shaft and meshing with the gear wheels on the driven shaft and driver shaft, a plurality of pawls mounted in fixed relation to the driven shaft and adapted for alternate engagement and disengagement with the respective ratchets, a plurality of rings surrounding the driven shaft in contact with the respective pawls and adapted to be. moved axially for actuating the pawls, a. plurality of shifter rods carrying the respective rings, certain of said rods having means thereon for engaging with other of said rods and shifting the latter. and means coaeting with the first said means for successively shifting the several rods and their a djunetive rings. and thereby allowing the pawls to successively engage the respective contiguous ratchets.

2. In a change-speed gearing, a driver shaft, a secondary shaft, a series of gear wheels fixed on the secondary shaft, a driver gear fixed on said driver shaft and meshing with one of said series of gear wheels, a driven shaft, a series of gear wheels loosely mounted on the driven shaft and each carrying a ratchet wheel and meshing with the respective gear wheels on the secondary shaft, 21 series of pawl-carrying members fixed on the driven shaft and having springpressed pawls pivotally mounted thereon, a ring surrounding each pawl-carrying member and having radially and oppositely ex tending arms, one of said arms being bifur-ated and embracing the driver shaft, a plurality of shifter rods on which the other arms of the ring are mounted respectively,

certain of said shifter rods having means thereon for moving other of the shifter rods, and means coaeting with the first said means for successively shifting the rods, each of said pawls being normally in contact with one of said rings and being adapted to travel on the surface thereof, and thereby being held normally out of engagement with said ratchet members.

In a change-speed gearing, a driver shaft, a secondary shaft. a plurality of gear wheels fixed on the secondary shaft, a driver gear fixed on the driver shaft and meshing with one of said plurality of gear wheels, a driven shaft, a plurality of gear wheels loosely mounted on the driven shaft and each having a ratchet member thereon and meshing with the respective gear wheels on the secondary shaft, pawls carried by the driven shaft, a pawl-actuating element for each pawl, shifter rods carrying the respective pawl-actuating elements, means carried by certain of the shifter rods for moving other of the shifter rods, and means co-acting With the first said means for successively shifting the. shifter rods.

l. In a change-speed gearing, a driver shaft, a secondary shaft, a series of gear wheels fixedly mounted on the secondary shaft, a. driver gear fixed on the driver shaft and meshing with one of said series of gear wheels, a driven shaft, a series of gear wheels loosely mounted on the driven shaft and meshing with the gear wheels on the secondary shaft, a clutch mechanism for securing each of the last said gear wheels in fixed relation to the driven shaft, a clutch operating member for each clutch mechanism, a series of shifter rods carrying the respective clutch operating members, certain of the shifter rods having means thereon for moving the adjacent shifter rods, and means coacting with the first said means for successively actuating the shifter rods.

5. In a change-speed gearing, a driver shaft, a' secondary shaft, a series of gear wheels fixed on the secondary shaft, a driver gear fixed on the driver shaft and meshing with one of the series of gear wheels, a driven shaft, a series of gear wheels loosely mounted on the driven shaft and meshing with the gear wheels of the first series, a clutch mechanism for holding each of the loosely mounted gear wheels in fixed relation to the driven shaft, a clutch operating member for each of the clutch mechanisms, a series of shifter members carrying the respective clutch operating members, means for moving one of the shifter members, means on said one of the shifter members for engagement with a second shifter member and moving the latter into position to be engaged by the first said means, and means on said second shifter member for engagement with a third shifter member and moving the latter into position "for engagement with the first said means, so that the shifter members may be successively moved from one to another of their several alternative positions.

(5. In a change-speed gearing, a driver shaft, a secondary shaft, a series of gear wheels fixed on the secondary shaft, a driver gear fixed on said driver shaft and meshing with one of the series of gear wheels, a driven shaft, a series of gear wheels loosely mounted on the driven shaft and meshing with the gear wheels on the secondary shaft, a clutch mechanism for locking each of the loosely mounted gear wheels in fixed relation to the driven shaft, a clutch operating member for each of the clutch mechanisms, a series of shifter rods carrying the clutch operating members, a shifter bar extending across the shifter rods and in operative relation for moving the rods, an operating shaft extending transversely of the shifter rods, an operating element carried by the operating shaft, and anarm connect-ing the shifter bar With the operating shaft.

7. In a change-speed gearing, a driver shaft, a driver gear thereon, a secondary shaft, a driven shaft, a series of intermeshing gears of different sizes, certain of said gears being fixed on the driver shaft and certain of said gears being loosely mounted on the driven shaft, a series of clutch mechanisms for securing the respective gears in fixed relation to the driven shaft, clutch operating members for the respective clutch mechanisms, a series of shifter rods carrying the respective clutch operating members, a shifter bar, means for moving the shifter bar in the axial direction of the shifter rods, means on the shifter rods coacting with the shifter bar for moving said rods axially and thereby moving the clutch-engaging members and allowing the clutch mechanisms to move into operative relation, and means for raising the shifter bar and simultaneously forcing the shifter rods and their adjuncts into initial position.

8. In a change-speed gearing, a series of secondary gear wheels, a driver gear wheel meshing with one of the gears of said series, a series of driven gear wheels meshing with the gears of said secondary series, a clutch mechanism for each of several of the driven wheels, a clutch operating member for each clutch mechanism, a series of shifter rods carrying the respective clutch operating members, a shifter bar, lugs on the shifter rods, means on certain of the shifter rods for engaging certain of the lugs on other of the shifter rods, means for successively actuating the shifter bar and thereby successively moving the shifter rods so as to shift the clutch-operating members and allowing the clutches to move into operative position, and a series of keepers for engaging the respective shifter rods and holding them in their respective adjusted positions.

9. In a change-speed gearing, a' series of secondary gear wheels, a driver gear wheel meshing with one of the gears of said secondary series, a series of driven gear wheels, a clutch mechanism for each of several of the driven wheels meshing with the gears of said secondary series, a clutch-operating member for each clutch mechanism, a series of shifter rods carrying the respective clutch-operating members, a shifter bar, lugs on the shifter rods, means on certain of the shifter rods for engaging certain of the lugs on other of the shifter rods, means for successively actuating the shifter bar and thereby successively moving the shifter rods so to shift the clutch-operating members and allowing the clutches to move into operative position, a series of keepers pivotally supported above the shifter rods and adapted for engagement therewith for holding name to this specification in the presence of them in their respective operative positions, two subscribing Witnesses. and means for liftin all of the keepers simultaneously and fo r simultaneously rais- CYRUS EARNIST' ing the shifter bar, so that the shifter rods Vitnesses: may be returned to their normal positions. R. A. CARPENTER,

In testimony whereof I have signed my R. S. WARBURTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 0! Patents, Washington, D. C. 

